Last Friday we went and bought a family of 5 hammies from Sam's Pet and Aquarium at United Square. I think their prices are slightly above average but they were the only shop that had more than 3 baby hammies in a litter (on Friday night).
These 5 hammies come from the same parents, but were of two different litters. I think there are two females in the lot, but Rz and I simply couldn't bear to see them separated.
At first I had doubts about buying the largest hamster in the litter because he was almost adult, and adults tend to be harder to tame. My heart was already won by the three smallest ones :s
Then came the picking up test to see how tame/tameable they were. So I picked up the largest one first. My logic after looking after so many hammies in the past was that the dominant male usually embodies all the personalities of the litter.
In other words, if the dominant male attacks and is hostile, the rest of the litter will be timid yet hostile to humans. This is the worse possible combination for taming :s It will definitely result in stressed human and stressed hammy, which is not good at all :s
To my pleasant surprise, he wasn't afraid of me at all, neither did he try to bite me. He was of a sweet nature, even when I had to flip him over to check his rear. Hamsters usually detest this, especially when being molested by humans they aren't familiar with.
As predicted, I managed to check all 5 of them, even the littlest one with no bites or scratches :) And then I moved on to getting their food and other supplies.
I must say Sam's branch at United Square has a very small variety of small animal stuff. I was rather displeased at their range of hamster food and bedding. How can they run out of everything at once? So I simply got the food mix that they usually feed them with, a water bottle (over-priced), some chinchilla sand (average price for a large bottle) and the smallest bag of woodchip I could find.
The next thing I looked for was a hamster wheel. The ones at Sam's were for adult dwarves/normal hamsters and I knew the 3 smallest hammies would probably injure themselves on them. So I had to pop by Pets Kampong (their webby seems to be down atm) at Novena Square for a dwarf hamster wheel. Ended up getting some yoghurt drops and a simple plastic, small dog-food bowl.
When I got home I put them all in my good old fish tank, which has housed several generations of hammies :P Got up their water bottle and set up their wheel.
I think they settled in very fast as compared to my previous hamsters. Maybe its because groups settle in faster? Perhaps. I noticed that the other hamsters seem to observe the dominant male whenever they are in a new environment, and use him as an indicator.
Easier for me then. Just sayang the leader more haha :P
Sometime over the weekend, I decided to name the smallest hammy Tofu :P
Still thinking of more names for the other four of them. Though they all have the same coats, except for Tofu who has a slightly lighter coat, I've begun to be able to tell them apart by sight.
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Went over to take a walk at the Parkway branch of the Pet Lovers Centre on Saturday afternoon before meeting JL, ES, Gerg, Sol and Rz for our crab sojourn at ECP :D tbt couldn't come :( He had to work..
Nevertheless we had a rather nice time hogging the table and irritating people who thought we were finished when we were not. Hahahaha sorry for my sarcasm, but I really don't understand.
Is it a crime to wait for our second and third courses?
We had a number of people who tried to make us give up our seats. We even had someone ask us if we were done, and when we said quite nicely, "No, we're waiting for some more food", the person said, "Then I don't wait for you all already lah!"
Like what, we paid for food that's on its way and you want us to not look like we are waiting? Wasn't it your own personal choice to wait for us? Or is it a crime to socialise in between courses during meals?
As Sol aptly put it, "Heng they never ask me, if not I'll roar!"
I think this is what you get when you have several million selfish people on one small island together....
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Went to church yesterday after 2 months of absence due to assignment influx. The sermon by Pastor Lawrence was rather meaningful, even though he was so excited he was alternating between laughing and yelling half the time :)
Sometimes it's really refreshing to see someone so moved and happy to serve. Service comes so naturally when we are not oppressed or pressured by elders who always want us to think they know better.
It was Fathers' Day, and they had some very cute video interviews of children at the end of the service :) It was so touching and I found myself really glad I missed the Mothers' Day service..
I'd have cried my heart out if I attended I think.
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Had dinner at R's last night :D Her birthday :D
As usual, it was a family affair. Her Granny and aunt were both there :) Aunty BL cooked garlic oat prawns!! :D
R went for a semi-makeover at Kanebo and came back looking very sweet and demure with curly hair :D So cute! I think curls suit her better, but I don't think it will be easy maintenance-wise.
We even had a short prayer reflection led by her granny after dinner. I don't think Aunty BL and R were very happy, but I felt that fluttery, elusive family feeling about it. I guess they didn't like Granny dragging everything into a sermon, especially when it was R's birthday. This part I can understand, it can get irritating if it happens all the time.
It is very sad that she doesn't realise how selfish she can be towards her own family's feelings, but can be so generous and loving to others. To some extent I think my dad is like that as well.
However, I think in a way, I can understand Granny. To her life, is very short and precious, and the only way she knows how to show her love to her children and grandaughter is to share her Christian walk with them, especially now that her husband is no longer around. They are her only lifelines in more ways than one. I think they have also become her outlet.
In the end, I was very thankful that I made R the handphone strap and earrings, on top of giving her the pendant. I was quite sad to see that she had so few gifts, although of course her mum's present to her was the dinner..
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Hmmm think I shall take a nice shower and have a facial mask :D Maybe later if I'm feeling more industrious I shall think about the stuff I need to do for sgWar.
- 19 June 2006 5:31pm -
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